I would call any team only 3 games behind top one in any conference a contender. That's arguable, but your club in 2002 was really miserable.
Yao is not overappreciated, but Yao's value to the Houston Rockets when it comes to being successfull is overrated. He's our cash cow, but we can win without him.
My club? I thought this was everyone's club here. I guess it's only your club when Yao's here? I see, that's nice. They've won 13 games in a row against a really mediocre schedule to get to 3 games behind the 1st seed. Let's give context to your contender status there.
Come on! That was a weak argument! First off, this is the first "real" injury to Yao in terms of his body breaking down on him. Last year, it was a freak accident that could happen to ANY player in the NBA. A guy rolled into his league and pushed it in the wrong direction. That is out of Yao's control. He could have never played for the CNT and that injury still would have happened. And the injury before that (toe infection) was also just a weird injury. So please don't become a media Homer and talk about Yao's injuries! His prior injuries were all just random and weird.
CALLING CLUTCH!!! CALLING CLUTCH!!! Time to lock this thread up before is becomes the WWII of **** vs. YOHs! The first shots have already been fired!
Because they always think NBA champion is world champion(that's 99% true), and there is no other country in the world except America from their eyes.(that's ?% true)
If Rox wasn't a contender before yao's injury, I guess it doesn't hurt that much to see Yao injured. People should be as happy as they were.
Call it what you want. He now has a history of injuries, "freak" and "real" both. All that counts in the end of the day are the games he misses and our team performance with and without him.
Kid Icarus' wings are melting away... Tell you what, ikarus... Since Yao is temporarily off the team due to injury, you can feel free (as possible) to go root for the Bucks now. They can be "your club" from now until Yao returns. He won't miss his only fan.
Yao hasn't got chronic injuries yet. All of his previous injuries haven't happened to him again. However, this one is going to be dangerous. It could become chronic.
That would make sense except that there's a huge difference between winning a playoff series and being a championship contender. I would dare say not many teams, if any, have gone from the lottery to winning the NBA title in one season. Yao and TMac both needs playoff experience and they're obviously not going to be getting too much of it this season.
As a Rockets fan, I like Yao. I think he's a great guy. He's great for the city and he brings attention and money to the team. But from a basketball standpoint, I believe that we are better without him. I may be delusional, but I really do believe that. Defense, rebounds, turnovers & endurance are now in our favor with Yao Ming out of the lineup. I'm very very excited to see how this plays out. I believe the Rockets will make the Western Conference Finals at minimum.
Let's see. No 7 seed will take on No 2 seed. Beating No 2 in the first round and loosing the second round to No 3/6 seed would make you satisfied? Or they just need another first round exit to get playoff experience? I thought both of them got tons of that first round experience.
Some Rox fans think winning is the measure by which star players are judged and some Rox fans are happy with the 20 points, 10 boards, and the post game sound bytes.
